Atlantic Indoor Association

A well-known and respected WGI adjudicator, as well as a Virginia native and a judge from early on in AIA’s percussion division, Keoni Cunningham returns to do GE at a show in 2010.

 

 

I started my percussion at Bayside JH in Virginia Beach playing tenors, and continued when I got to Bayside HS; I marched with Boston Crusaders 84-85. When I graduated in 1986 I took over as the instructor at Bayside and soon made my mark working with many of the bands in the Hampton Roads area. In 1996 I started working with Tarheel Sun and continued in 1997, this was also when I began judging for AIA—PA in percussion and GE for guard. After the summer DCI tour in 1997 I moved to Houston and took a position as percussion specialist for Tomball ISD. At this time I also began judging percussion and guard for Texas Color Guard Circuit, as well as taking on the role of percussion judges coordinator. Soon I had to scale back my judging as I had 2 competitive drum lines—one scholastic and one Independent. My Indy line competed at the local and national level, medaling twice. This exposure as well as my work as judges coordinator helped me foster many friendships with the top judges and instructors in the nation. I have been to two WGI judges academies and served on the percussion advisory board for 3 years. 

In the 12 years I have been involved with WGI, I have seen many great advancements in performance technique and styles. It never ceases to amaze me what new ideas will come about, either through design or performance. I travel to Dayton every year to watch and take in all the shows at World Championships. I am an educational endorser for Pro Mark, Pearl /Adams, Evans and Sabian. 

PA is my home caption. As a percussionist, it’s what comes natural and is usually what we use as the starting point. As I stated earlier, I have also done GE for guard as I started, Larry Einus got me on that track, as it would give me a good insight into the design process, when I started percussion groups especially on the local level were in their infancy, and show design was not a high priority, but as you can see now things have evolved greatly, and the design has gone beyond a "guard show drumming". My experience doing GE for guard opened my eyes, and my connection with Dennis Delucia as I began to expand my knowledge gave me greater insight into how he and the WGI percussion board wanted to develop the caption to be more specific to our venue. The one thing that I always keep in mind is Dennis' explanation of how it becomes a musical journey. My experience with Dennis, Matt Savage, and Ralph [Hardimon] have given me a huge amount of reference and insight to how three great judges can get differing opinions on the same show, all drawn on their own experiences, it has revealed that it truly is a subjective caption. I did a lot of EA (now Visual) when I started in Texas, and [WGI judge] Jimmy Devine was a big determiner for me both as a judge and as an instructor, in that every time I knew he was judging us, I had to take an extra look at the design and say, “OK, we're gonna get ripped here,” “this is weak,” etc. I'm lucky that I can look at him in a critique and say, “OK, so let’s not talk about such and such I know—let’s see if this is working for you so that I can fix what you and I both know isn't working.” So that’s my caption experience and a little background.

I'll focus on PA from here. My comments on PA, its criteria and what teams need to do about it.

First and foremost I will say to the younger teams, and even some of the more advanced teams, is not to overwrite and fill the gym with too much sound. What do I mean by that? For clarity, especially in the gym venue, many groups will try to fill a shot glass sized arena with a gallons worth of information. Given the acoustics, it becomes information over load, and anything good that you wanted to get across to the audience doesn't make it past the front row. Develop the highest and most consistent quality of sound from player to player, and section to section, this is the basis of what we do, and will lead to greater achievement and better success in the long run. 

Be aware of your electronics because this will cross into GE. Make sure it’s balanced and becomes an enhancement to the design and performance, not a means or a question to the audience and judges of what you are trying to cover up. I have a saying for the lines I work with, with every note, there needs to be space, or breadth, no matter the note value, if the sound quality isn't there, and you can't read between them, it all become needless static. This may seem redundant to true percussionists, but I have found that all too often it is overlooked, for the sake of ramming the most amounts of "cool beats" into a show. To cross caption again, this has a lot of weight in the design for PA and GE, pacing of your chosen written and designed effects are paramount. And always keep in mind the audience will need some release from tension of high effect/ design, it all goes into a well thought out design process, that takes into account the music, visual and the effect captions.

Last year was the first time I had the opportunity to see the lines in Virginia and North Carolina again in a long time, and in many aspects they are doing well in comparison to the lines I see here in Texas. They all seem to be on a good track and I look forward to seeing the advancement of the lines I saw last year. 

A final note I would make to all the instructors is to tell them to go to Dayton for WGI, whether it’s by themselves or if they can get the line to go and watch, I saw the guys that came out last year and they will tell anyone that it is an experience like no other. To see the Ohio and Indiana lines with their style, up against the California lines with their high energy style. It will give anyone a new perspective of where they are compared to the nation.

In fact, judges should also get out to Dayton, and sit through a couple rounds of the PSA to take notes, run numbers, look at the recaps and see where you were compared to the judges. Try to contact some of the judges just to get their input. Also, try to get to an Academy, they usually run one with the Nashville regional. It’s all about opening your horizons and exposure. I've been lucky that I was in the position to bring in all of these guys to Texas as well as Dave Marvin, Giff Howarth, and many others. It’s all about open communication.

 

Submitted by: Michael Kirby